Daughter of Darkness (book 1: The Lightning Thief)
by THAWLESQ
Summary: She'd always had a hard life. And now she was being attacked by monsters and had the abilities of superheroes? Yes. She had the troubles of being a demigod to worry about from now on. After finally making her way to camp half blood, she realizes it's the only place she can belong. And she won't let anything mess it up, not even a war between the gods. Rated T because I cuss.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! This is my first Percy Jackson fanfiction so please go easy, as Im not a complete expert. I have NOT read the Heroes of Olympus books, just the Percy Jackson series, though I will read them soon. This will have nothing to do with those books. However, after I finish this series I may start one on the events of that storyline. It will be in first pov for my OC. I do not own anything else besides her, and maybe a few other details. Percy Jackson and The Olympians belongs to Rick Riordan. I hope you enjoy!**

My name is Odessa Rena Royce. Everyone just calls me Rena though. I am twelve years old, and much weirder than I originally thought. I have always been different. Dyslexia and ADHD make sure I have a hard time focusing and doing well in class, and most people tend to avoid me because they think im a vampire. I don't like the sun very much and prefer the night. Oh, I almost forgot. I can also see in the dark, sort of. No matter how dark it is, im always able to tell exactly where everything is, and know what's going on around me. I can't actually see like I do in the light, but I might as well be able to. Not only that, but to add to my problems, Im an orphan. I live in a particularly crowded orphanage in Manhattan New York, and had never even left town. My mother Riley Royce died giving birth to me, and my father left way before that. This is what used to be the extent of my troubles, but that's nothing anymore. Nowadays, the general person's definition of 'normal' was something I would never be able to achieve. No matter how much I wished I could.

It happened on what had been a terrible day to start with. I was attending classes at a nearby public school and it wasn't going well. I had already failed two tests and had been forced to read out loud by a mean old hag of a teacher who hated my existence. All the kids got annoyed by my terrible try at the paragraph, and many had nailed me in the back of the head with balls of paper. Mrs. Lewis did nothing to stop them and only ended my suffering when she got bored of waiting on me.

"Thank you Rena for your excellent job." She sneered at me in the middle of my sentence, calling on another kid to take my place.

I narrowed my eyes at her but just turned back to my notebook doodling on the page in between meaningless words. The bell rang and I quickly gathered my stuff and rushed out. Grabbing my backpack from my locker I left the school building and found a place behind the main building to eat my lunch. I brought my entire bag to lunch, because if I didn't someone would break into the crappy locker and steal something like always. Munching on an apple I watched the sky. It was a cloudy day, and I was trying to decide if this particular one looked more like a rabbit, or a fat pug. The custodian came out the back entrance with a big bag of trash and tossed it into the dumpster. When I glanced back down to put the apple core into my crinkled brown paper bag a pair of feet suddenly appeared in front of me. Quickly looking up again I saw the custodian smiling down at me. What? How did he walk all the way over here that fast? I thought bewildered looking back at the distant dumpster on the opposite side of the wall.

"Hello," He said "I could throw away that bag for you if you want."

I nodded and handed it to him smiling a little in thanks. He walked over to the bin and threw it away as well, and when I was certain he would go back inside, he turned around and started coming right back over. Okay, this was getting awkward. What could he want to talk to me about? As he neared me, his smile turned into a scowl that turned into an evil smirk. I stood up and was about to bolt when his appearance completely changed. He got a lot taller and more brutish looking and his teeth were a rotting yellow. My eyes widened, and I turned running. Just like before he seemed to teleport in front of me and pushed me back against the wall by the neck. I gasped for air as his fingers tightened around my throat. My feet dangled a full 2 feet above the ground.

"Thought I wouldn't find you did you little half-blood. Well I did, and now Im quite hungry. You'll make a good meal." He laughed in a deep raspy voice that was definitely not human.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I croaked gripping at his large hands trying to pull them away. He just grinned and held tighter. I could feel my consciousness fading and I knew I would die.

My stomach twisted suddenly, and the hard wall seemed to melt like a cool liquid around me. The hand around my neck was forced off as it couldn't get through, and the next thing I knew I was completely enveloped. I dropped to the ground shuddering and gasping for breath. I saw my hands and shrieked. They were a slightly darker black than the shadows and so was the rest of me. Even my clothes. The thing was still standing above me looking at the wall furiously. It pounded the area where my head would be but I could barely feel it. I grinned in my triumph forgetting the weird circumstances for a second and mocked him with a few rude gestures. I lowered my gaze to the backpack that was still on the ground. I cautiously reached out and grabbed it. As soon as I made contact with it, it turned a shadowy black color and I could easily pull it into the wall as well. Putting it on, I quickly let the fear of what he would do if this strange power wore off force me into a run along the wall. I turned a corner and as soon as I left the shadows, my body returned to normal. I stopped for a second glancing at my no longer smoky colored skin and then back at the monster. He was leaning around watching me and apparently this was news to him because he looked surprised that I was no longer untouchable. The beast's shock wore off quick though and soon he was barreling towards me. I spun around darting for the street.

Leaving the school grounds, and bolting across the busy street was probably the most dangerous thing I'd ever done. Cars skidded to avoid me, and some even crashed into each other. I yelled a quick sorry when I reached the other side and took off down the sidewalk. The pileup had delayed the thing briefly, but he was quickly making his way through the mess snarling at me. Dashing around the corner and losing sight of the school I began mapping out the path that would get me back to the orphanage the quickest. Running another block, I took a left and then another. Down two more blocks and a right, one more block. I could see it in the distance and I snuck a peek over my shoulder. It was right on my trail, and gaining speed. I wouldn't be able to unlock the door and get inside in time. Reaching my destination I ditched the front door, sprinting for the back entrance. It was usually propped open so the kitchen wouldn't be so hot. Relief flooded me when I saw that it was. Grabbing the handle I ripped open the door, startling the few people cleaning up in the kitchen, and slammed it shut locking all the deadbolts. I only stopped to catch my breath when I was on the other side of the room. The cook, Ms. Johnson, ran to my aid with a cool glass of water. She was a short little woman that looked like your typical grandma complete with a love for cookie baking. She was always very nice to me and usually snuck me a little snack in between meals.

"Good heavens Rena! What's happened?" She squeaked running to the window to look for anything that could be dangerous. I only answered once I could breathe without feeling like my lungs where deserts that had been sprayed with gas and lit on fire. "This crazy custodian from school attacked me, saying that he wanted to eat me! He was not normal! He was huge and his voice didn't sound human!" I rushed fumbling over my words. I decided I wouldn't tell her about the whole becoming-a-shadow scenario. That would only get me locked up in a nut house. She ran to me refilling my water glass and patting me on the shoulder, leading me to a chair in the dining hall.

"That's terrible! Im so glad you made it back safely. We should no doubt tell the headmaster about this…" She mumbled the last part. "You stay right there and try to calm down, I'll go get him." She ordered scurrying out of the room. I sat there trying to not explode from the millions of thoughts and questions in my mind. The adrenaline was wearing off and I was getting extremely tired. I collapsed right there on the table and slept for what felt like days.

When I woke up a tall man with a long coat quickly made his way to my side. Ms. Johnson was right behind him. The man, Headmaster Rasmussen ran the orphanage and was always the one to solve the problems.

"Rena, are you feeling alright?" He asked.

I nodded and sat up.

"Thank goodness. Tell me everything." He demanded seriously sitting next to me. I started from the beginning changing a few details around the part that I became a wall. That would be my little secret. "-and so I ran here knowing if I stayed at school he could probably find another chance to kill me." I stated, "He was right behind me until I reached the back door. I don't know where the psycho went after that."

He nodded and quickly flipped on the only T.V in the orphanage that was on the wall at the end of the table. Sure enough, the story about the huge crash was playing on T.V. It was night time so I knew I'd been out for a while.

"I was just driving a long when suddenly this girl dashes across the road as fast as she could. I swerved to avoid her and rammed into the car next to me. I swear, that girl almost died. Somehow she made it across the street alright, and looked back with this look of pure terror on her face. I was about to scream at her when she yelled 'sorry' and kept right on running. A huge guy in a custodian suit with the meanest looking face I ever saw was just on the other side of my car, scowling at the escaping girl like he would kill her. I got out and tried to stop him but he punched me out cold and kept moving. I hope that girl's okay…" A man being interviewed stated.

"There you have it, this huge crash was caused only a few hours ago earlier today when a girl tried to escape from a potential kidnapping. Police are asking for any information on the girl's whereabouts as well as the suspect's." The reporter stated as the security camera footage showed the incident. There I was, sprinting across the street. But the guy chasing me looked different. He was slightly blurry, and didn't seem as horribly tall as earlier. After I disappeared around the corner the footage cut off and a picture of the school custodian, and my school picture were put up on the screen. I suppose the school was able to identify us. Mr. Rasmussen quickly called the police and told them I was alright. When he hung up he faced me again.

"The police are coming by to get your statement. Are you willing to tell them the story?" He consulted with me. I nodded and scarfed down the dinner Ms. Johnson had brought. I could hear the other kids, who were now back from school, outside the hall trying to listen in on the conversation. I knew that rumors would already be circulating around the building. I would clear everything up as soon as the police left.

A few cop cars had parked themselves outside the front door, and their owners were asking me questions about what had happened. I told them the story about four times, all exactly the same as the last. After giving my own description of the custodian, they finally left me alone. I slumped in the chair and sighed. It had been a long day and I couldn't wait until I could go to sleep. But of course, Nooooo. As soon as the big oak door closed behind the officers, the hall door flung open and almost every other resident swarmed me.

"Oh come on! You were all eavesdropping outside the door anyways, why do you need me to tell it again?" I yelled tiredly.

"Because the door is huge and hard to hear through!" One kid countered.

"Yeah right, I've been on the other side of this situation before and I know for a fact that you can hear perfectly fine through it." I said.

From the other side of the mob I could hear Mr. Rasmussen mumble something like, "Perhaps we need another room to discuss things in after all…"

"Okay okay, fine! I'll retell it all in great detail tomorrow morning at breakfast." I relented willing to do anything to be able to sleep. They grumbled some agreement when they realized they wouldn't get anywhere and allowed me to make my way to bed. Laying down, my eyes closed instantly and I was fast asleep.

Usually I don't have dreams. And if I do, they're lucid. But this time, I had a really weird one that I had no control over. _The huge custodian was chasing me again. I could just barely move through what appeared to be a sea of ink. Thick black water weighed me down and the monster was gaining on me fast. It laughed maniacally, "Come back tiny half-blood! If you keep running like this it'll only make me even hungrier!" It laughed again, and suddenly a huge fist closed around my waist. I screamed, but my mouth made no sound. Beating at the hand with all my strength, it slowly lifted me up towards the thing's terrible face. Laughing again it swallowed me whole. Tumbling down its throat I never reached the disgusting pit of the stomach like I expected, and kept falling right through the ground. Soon it opened up into a huge underground cavern. Thousands of people in black robes where there, all either shuffling around some huge field, screaming from a place I'd rather not talk about, or laughing in this one gated community. A giant obsidian and gold castle loomed at the center of it all, and I wondered what kind of king ruled over such a place. I suddenly stopped falling and shot straight forward towards the gated community. Whatever was flying me around finally set me down in front of a particularly beautiful house. A woman was standing in the doorway and I could somehow tell exactly who she was. She was my mother. The expression on her face was warm and kind. I knew where I was now. The afterlife, or underworld, or whatever you called it. She opened her mouth to say something but as soon as she did the dream whisked me away to another place. We were flying over a strip of land that I recognized from pictures. Long Island. This time it stopped me above what looked like a summer camp. Only it was odd. People were training with weapons and doing other really weird things. It flew me from there back to the orphanage and at the front entrance I woke up._

Sitting up in my bed I noticed that it was still night. 1:24 am something told me. I checked the clock on the wall and sure enough that was the time. Weird. I rubbed my tired eyes and went over the dream in my mind. So much had happened that I couldn't even find where to begin. What really interested me was my mother, and that camp. I could remember the exact route dream-me had taken to get there, and I felt a strong urge to go. Shaking my head I stood up and made my way through the rows of beds to one of the bathroom. I locked the door behind me and splashed water in my face. Sitting on the toilet lid I put my head in my hands and tried to make sense of what all was going on. I didn't have much time though, because someone knocked on the door. Jumping from the sudden noise I stood and opened the door.

"There, It's all yours-" I began. Actually looking up at who it was stopped me dead in my tracks. The terrifying face of what looked like the custodian's brother grinned down at me. I screamed for help but was cut off when one of his hands clamped over my mouth. I tore it away with strength I didn't know I had and pushed him back to the other side of the hall. Dashing down the corridor I ran to my room and screamed for help again. Why was no one coming? I launched myself into the long room that I shared with about 40 other kids and grabbed my stuff. Not one was waking up. I shook the kid on the bed next to mine yelling at them, but they slept on.

"What the hell is going on?!" I panicked. The big brute was now advancing on me. It completely ignored the others and for some unlucky reason focused only on me. Sprinting around him to the door I quickly exited the building. It was obvious that no one would be coming to help. I noticed how incredibly faster I was now than before. It alarmed me, but not enough to stop and try to figure it out. Got to get to the police station. They'll keep him- no it- away from me. I thought. Running down the dark streets I noticed how abnormally empty the roads were. This was New York! Nothing was ever this quiet no matter how late it was. A second later I felt a weird sensation overcome my body and found myself somewhere very far away from where I just was. Great, now I was teleporting. I looked at my surroundings while I was running and found myself on an old country road. The same road from my dream. I could barely see through the rain that had just come out of nowhere. This was a really bad storm. Behind me I heard the sounds of a car and the thundering sound of some gigantic creature's footsteps. Headlights came into view through the rain and I stumbled back to avoid being hit. However before the car reached where I was, a huge lightning bolt shot down from the sky and struck the Camaro sending it flying over my head. I gasped and ran to the car. Looking inside I saw three people. A middle aged woman at the wheel and two boys in the back seat. One of them had really furry pants on and seemed to be unconscious, the other was struggling against the seatbelt. I pounded on the window to get their attention and the two awake looked at me afraid. I held onto the handle of the door that wasn't buried in mud and wrenched it open. Again, strangely strong. Why couldn't this happen in Gym?

"Are you guys alright?" I yelled over the wind, "What's going on?" While I talked I helped the woman out and turned to the back of the car. There was no way that door was opening.

"Cover your face!" I warned. He nodded and shielded himself. I took off my backpack and smashed in the window glass. He crawled out and then we both helped out Fuzzy-Pants.

"Who are you?" He asked bewildered.

"Ya really wanna ask that now?" I answered and began carrying the mumbling one after the woman. I guessed she was the mother of the one helping me. They looked similar. A loud roar interrupted my thoughts and I spun around. My eyes widened when I saw the thing. He was huge and had the head of a bull with the body of a man.

"What is that?" I shouted.

Niether of them seemed to hear me though because they were struggling up the hill. I followed and recognized the hill as the one the camp was behind. The same big tree stood there. I couldn't believe it actually existed. I had other things to think about though because when we reached the top, the bull charged. Mom told boy something about dodging sideways and I followed their example. The cowman mooed in frustration and turned around to try again. This time it aimed for me. I was backed up against the huge oak and had nowhere to go. I closed my eyes and pleaded with myself to do the same thing as before. The familiar twist in my gut and the feel of being sucked into jello told me it worked. I was one with the tree. The bull guy's horn got embedded in it, but I wasn't hurt. I had no idea how to get out of the tree. Last time it worked when I left the shadow, but it was night time now. Before I could move, the crazy boy with green eyes leaped on the back of the monster. It roared and reared up yanking its horn out. Snap! Off it came and the boy fell down to the ground. I stepped away from the tree and I melted back to my original form. I really needed to get that under control. The thing charged towards the mom and other one, and I knew that if I didn't help, Fuzzy-Pants at least would be roadkill. I sprinted towards them and grabbed his arm tugging him away. The mom tried to sidestep but the monster caught her. The boy screamed and a second later the woman had dissolved in a gold shower. I stood there holding onto the unconscious one horrified. The crazy kid yelled and rammed the horn into the things chest. It instantly dissolved into dust leaving only the horn behind. I walked over to him and looked him over. He seemed to be fine for the most part, so I pointed down the other side of the hill. Lit up buildings were visible through the downpour and he nodded. We both took an arm and dragged his friend over the top. Instantly the rain stopped and the sky cleared. We made it down the hill, but as soon as we reached the light of the first building I felt all my strength drain. I collapsed and fell to the ground breathing heavily, and barely awake. The others were also now on the ground. A few people had come outside and were standing over us. My eyes couldn't be bothered to stay open but I could hear them.

"He's the one, he has to be." A girl said.

"Yes, but who is the girl? I've never seen her before. I expected Percy and Grover, but she is new. She must be a half-blood or she would not have been able to get in…" A man said. There it was again. Half-blood. That was the last thought I had before I gave in to sleep.

 **There you go! Chapter 1 complete. I know it was pretty long. I'm not sure yet if all chapters will turn out this way but I hoped you liked it. Please leave a review so I know how to improve. Look forward to the next chapter, it should be up soon! ^w^**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again. Thank you for reading through chapter one and actually making it to the second. I don't think that this one will be as long as the last, but you never know. Anyways, please enjoy**

I luckily was allowed a peaceful recovery sleep. No strange dreams leading me to secret camps in the woods this time. I awoke to a girl with blonde hair holding something to my lips. I took a sip and smiled. It was the best thing I'd ever had. It tasted like this really good pastry I'd once bought from a bakery that used to be down the street. The shop had long since closed and so I hadn't eaten it for a while.

"Good thing you awoke, I wasn't sure you would. The nectar seems to work oddly slow on you."

"Nectar? Is that what I'm drinking?"

The girl nodded. I tried to sit up but she pushed me back down. "You need to rest more, your body was extremely strained when we found you. It's a surprise you made it as far as you did."

"I felt fine till I reached the building."

"Probably adrenaline. Hey, what's your name anyways?"

"Rena Royce." I said. She nodded and made me finish off the glass of greatness. After I finished, I took in my surroundings. I was on a bed in a large room that I guessed was a hospital, or an infirmary. A blonde guy stood in the corner watching me… and everything else, all at once. He had an incredible amount of eyes. They were everywhere. There were many hospital beds, all lined up in rows along the length of the room. Some of them were occupied, though not many. Then I remembered the other kids that had killed the beast.

"Hey are those guys okay?" I asked. The girl nodded and fixed the sheets of the bed.

"That's good. Mooman gave him quite the beating…"

She snorted, "Mooman? You mean the Minotaur."

"The Minotaur? That guy from the myths? He's not real though." But even as I said it, I knew he was. After all, why else would I be lying here in a hospital bed? She looked at me with the same thought in her eyes, then told me to sleep and left the room. I instead tried to sit up and look out the window. I couldn't do it. My legs wouldn't move normally and felt like weights were holding them down. I sighed in annoyance and used my hands to push me up against the head rest. Shifting so my legs were dangling off the side I grasped the nightstand and pushed up. I did fairly well for 3 feet, then fell flat on my face. Just my luck, bested by a floor. The blonde man came over to me picking me up by the arms and putting me back on my feet, holding me up.

"Thank you." He just nodded and went back to the corner. Taking a few steps almost worked, but very badly. I grunted and fell against the wall which I then used to make my way to the door. Just then the girl opened it to see what had happened and looked at me.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"I happen to be attempting to walk. Just give me a sec, I'll get it." She rolled her eyes and walked further outside leaving the door open for me to follow.

"Well if you refuse to rest and you can walk now, then follow me. I have to bring you to Mr. D, our camp director."

"Camp? What camp are we at?"

"Camp Half-Blood" She said simply.

I didn't know what to think of the name so I just nodded and stood for a minute making sure I could walk properly, then started after the girl.

"So, what's your name?"

"Annabeth."

I nodded awkwardly then looked around at where we were. It was an incredibly weird place. There was some normal stuff that you'd see at any camp like a volleyball pit and an archery range, but then there were the things I'd never dream of seeing. For example, the rock climbing wall that had lava and boulders tumbling down the side. That was a bit odd. Then of course was the building that had smoke coming out of the windows, and teenagers cooling weapons in tubs of water outside of it. Not exactly a day to day scene. Not to mention the goat people playing music to the strawberry patch. At this point I was pretty sure this was some fabrication of the mind and I had actually gone insane.

I saw the girl leading me to a big blue barn house towards the front of the camp. We stepped onto the porch where some people were playing a game of some sort. There were two men. One wore a very bright leopard shirt and had a can of diet soda in front of him. The other was in a wheelchair and had a blanket over his legs. Annabeth motioned me to stay at the bottom of the steps, then went forward and began to talk quietly to the man in the wheelchair. He looked at me and when he saw me looking back he smiled comfortingly. He said something to her and she nodded before jogging past me further into the camp. Once Annabeth was gone, there was an awkward silence that ended when the man in the wheelchair gestured for me to sit in the chair between the two men. I carefully walked up and sat down, tense since this was all very weird and I didn't know anyone. He began by introducing himself.

"Hello, my name is Chiron." He said.

That's an odd name I thought. "That's a cool name." I said.

"This is Mr. D, our camp director." He said gestured to the other man, who glanced at me before rolling his eyes and taking a sip from his coke.

"I'm sure you have many questions, but first would you care to tell us about the night we found you? After which, I will be happy to explain as much of this as I can."

At least I might find out what the hell was going on. "That seems fair. It happened at-" I began when Annabeth came back with the two boys from that night.

"Ah! Here they are! Rena, this is Percy Jackson and Grover." Chiron said gesturing to each of them. I smiled awkwardly at them, uncomfortable with all the attention. They returned the awkward smile before sitting down around the table also.

"Nice to meet you guys. Well, officially anyways." I said before continuing my story. "Anyways, it started yesterday at lunch-" here I was cut off by Annabeth who made a sort of cough. Like she was trying to tell me I was wrong.

I looked between them all, "Did I miss something?" I asked raising an eyebrow. Here Chiron gave me a sad smile.

"Rena dear, you've been asleep for four days…"

"WHAT?!" I screeched, "Four days?! I have to let them all know I'm okay!" I stood. "Is there a phone anywhere, can I make a call really quick?" I asked urgently, freaking out.

"Sit down Jena. You can't do anything about it right now, so you might as well just keep going with your story." Mr. D spoke for the first time. There was an awkward silence as I tried to figure out why the hell he called me Jena. I thought I had been clear enough. Perhaps he misheard me.

"Uh, my name is Rena. With an R, not a J."

He just scowled at me and mumbled some curses into his soda. Chiron intervened.

"Now Rena, as rudely as he said it, he is correct. We need to understand your situation better in order to help you. So please, finish what you were telling us." He said calmly.

I sat down again and took a breath. These people were weird, "So it was lunch time and I was sitting behind the school since I have no friends. Did you guys happen to hear about that large crash that happened earlier that day?"

Percy nodded, "I heard about it on the TV. Some guy was chasing this girl through the street." I nodded in affirmation.

"Well, that was me… As I said, I was eating lunch when one of the school janitors attacked me. He was not human… he was gigantic and nasty looking. He was calling me a half-blood and saying how he was going to eat me." I paused subconsciously rubbing my neck.

"That sounds like a Laestrygonian giant. Huge cannibals that attacked Odysseus and his men." Annabeth said.

"Odysseus? Like from the legends? Are you saying that stuff is real?" I asked cautiously. I didn't want to believe such crazy stuff, but from everything that happened, I was beginning to. The others just nodded and said they'd explain later.

"Anyways, he had me pinned by the neck against the wall, and then I… uh…" I didn't know if I should tell them, but then I remembered that Percy had already seen me do it, so I just continued. "I went into the wall." I said waiting for them to laugh. However they just looked at me curiously and slightly worried.

"You went into the wall?" Grover asked.

"Well no. At least I don't think entirely. It's hard to explain, but what I remember is almost losing consciousness and then feeling like I was being pulled into a cool liquid sort of. Then when I looked down my clothes and I were a Smokey blackish like color. Like a shadow."

Annabeth, Grover, Mr. D, and Chiron all exchanged a quick glance of worry and suddenly I didn't feel ok about telling them. I sunk down in my chair to make myself more invisible.

"Please, continue." Chiron demanded nicely.

"Well the janitor couldn't follow me so I grabbed my stuff and ran. As soon as the shadow on the wall ended I became normal, and the monster started chasing me again. I didn't want to risk staying at school and I had to keep running, so I ran into the middle of the street… causing that huge crash. He got through it pretty quickly and so I had to sprint all the way back to the orphanage."

"You're an orphan?"

"…yes… Once I got inside, he left and I collapsed. I woke up hours later and began answering the questions of the police and Headmaster Rasmussen. I went immediately to bed and had a really weird dream."

Suddenly Chiron became serious, "This is very important, what was your dream about? Dreams for demigods are always warnings or other messages."

"Wait a second, demigod?"

He sighed, "Yes. Children of both god and human. Hercules and other heroes like Achilles were demigods. This camp is where demigods are trained to defend themselves against the monsters like the ones you've encountered. They're also known as half-bloods."

I remembered how everyone had been calling me a half-blood and laughed, "You mean to say that my dad was a god?" I laughed again.

"Or your mother."

"No, she was human. I saw it in the dream."

"Ah yes the dream, tell us about it."

"It was pretty creepy. At first I was trying to move through a thick black substance. Like tar. I was running from another giant but it caught me. It ate me whole and I fell down its throat. Before I hit the stomach though the dream changed and I was suddenly in an underground cave. It was gigantic and some parts were awful. There was this big black castle in the center and this little walled off community. That's when I went flying to one of the nice houses and saw my mother standing there. She smiled at me and was going to say something before I was flown out and to this camp. That's how I found it. I didn't know I was going this way. All I was trying to do was get away." Chiron nodded thoughtfully and then asked what else happened.

"Well, I woke up in the middle of the night and had to use the bathroom. Someone knocked on the door and when I opened it, it was another giant. Like the janitor's brother or something. He grabbed me and so I pushed him and he fell over long enough for me to get around him. I tried yelling for help but nobody was waking up. No matter what I did."

"Wait a second, you pushed a Laestrygonian giant over?!" Annabeth asked shocked.

"Believe me, I don't know how either. But as I was saying, no one would wake up so I had to run again. I got a chance to grab my backpack then bolted. I was heading to the police station when I was teleported to the road outside camp. It was like a pulling. I was just figuring out that I was near the place I saw in my dream when I saw their car." I said gesturing to the other boys.

"Well we didn't see you. You scared the hell out of me when you just appeared out of nowhere." Percy said.

"Sorry about that. But yeah, the car got struck by lightning and just nearly missed taking off my head when it flipped. You guys probably know the rest." I finished. They nodded, "Well, this all explains why you were so exhausted." Chiron smiled.

I laughed bitterly, "Yeah, that's it." I yawned. Just the memory of everything was enough to make me tired again.

"Why don't you get some rest? I need to discuss some things with Mr. D. I'll contact your headmaster and let him know you're ok, don't worry. Annabeth, would you lead her to the Hermes cabin?" He asked. She nodded and began walking away. I quickly followed and asked what he meant by Hermes cabin.

"I suppose I have to explain all this to you sooner or later." She sighed, "This is a camp for demigods as you know. For each of the major gods, there is a cabin for their children. You'll see them in a second. Hermes is the god of travelers and so all the new kids who haven't been claimed by their parent are housed there. We don't know who your father is, so we can't put you in one of the other cabins yet. If you're claimed, we'll move you into your own." She explained quickly.

"I see. What do you mean by if? Are there people who aren't ever claimed?" I asked surprised. Surely they'd want to claim their children right?

She scowled, "No. Demigods aren't their biggest priority, and they don't really care to help us. They only ever use us to accomplish their own means. If they don't need you, they might not even bother to remember you're theirs." She said bitterly.

"That's so stupid. They seem like they're assholes." I said. She looked at me cautiously as thunder boomed overhead.

"I wouldn't say things like that if you don't want to be electrocuted." She said. I looked up at the sky.

"You mean they're constantly listening in for insults even though they probably deserve some? After leaving us alone to be attacked by monsters?! To wonder why terrible thins always happen to us and deal with all of this on our own?!" I said angry. Why was I so angry? Was I mad because I had a father who was alive and who'd never even bothered to drop by and let me know what was going on? Letting me be attacked by monsters and fend for myself on the streets until the orphanage found me? Yeah. I decided I was mad. I was pissed. I didn't even care that the air was charging with electricity and the clouds above were becoming dangerously thick.

"Rena! Apologize! Before they blast us all!" Annabeth said frantically. I didn't want to, and certainly wouldn't have if I was the only one being affected. But I looked around and saw the other campers looking up scared and trying to figure out why that was happening. I sucked up my anger and apologized.

"Alright. I shouldn't have called you assholes." Yes I should've.

"You probably had your reasons." No reason is good enough for abandoning your children.

"I'm sorry." I am not sorry.

The clouds thinned and the air returned to normal with one last warning boom. Annabeth let out a relieved sigh, "No matter how you feel Rena, you can't just say those things. Making the gods hate you is the last thing you want to do."

"Yeah…" I was quietly seething for a while before Annabeth cleared her throat and we approached the cabins. They were all different. One for each god, representing what they ruled over. Annabeth explained them all and then lead me to the one I was going to stay in. It was way over crowded. Not only were all the beds full, but also most of the floor. Some kids were hanging around and talking, which all stopped as they saw me. I noticed that some of them had similar features in their faces. Like sandy hair and bright eyes. I guessed those were the actual Hermes children. A tall guy with kind eyes and a scar on his face walked over to us smiling. Annabeth began to fidget as he got closer. Oh? I smirked. She liked him I bet.

"Hey! My name is Luke. I'm the head counselor for the Hermes cabin. This is where you are going to stay until you're claimed." He smiled. I liked him, he seemed friendly enough.

"Hi. I'm Rena." I introduced myself.

"Well Rena, I'm sure we can find you a spot to sleep." He smiled at Annabeth who blushed and smiled back before leaving. He began to lead me through the cabin and try to clear a spot for me. The other kids all watched me trying to figure out who I belonged to by my looks. None of them seemed to like me very much. I guess my solid black eyes had that effect on people. I put my bag down on a patch of clear floor and left the cabin to explore. Luke caught up to give me a tour and began by showing me around the archery range.

"We have a lot of different weapon ranges here and you'll get to try them all so you can find what you like to use most." He explained.

I had no idea what that might be so I asked, "What's your favorite weapon?"

"The sword. I've practiced with it for a while and I'm really accustomed to using one." He said.

"Ah. That makes sense." I figured I'd start with the sword, it was the classic hero weapon after all.

"We'll have to get one for you later. You got here just in time for capture the flag."

"Uh, I'm not even going to ask why you need weapons for capture the flag." I said. He laughed and lead me out of the archery range. He showed me the rest of the camp and then it was time for dinner. We walked to the mess hall which was surrounded by giant ancient pillars in the Greek style. Like everything else here. I sat down with the other Hermes kids and let them tell me about more stuff I would need to know. I wasn't very familiar with Greek mythology so they explained basic people, monsters, and stories every half-blood should know. Percy was sitting with us too and we made small talk getting to know each other better. He was pretty cool. When dinner finally started I was surprised to see wood nymphs (apparently) bring out huge platters of all sorts of delicious foods. It was amazing. I'd never seen half this stuff before except through windows of fancy restaurants. I began to fill my plate with a few things. I couldn't eat that much since I wasn't used to it so I didn't take as much as the others did. Everybody began to stand up and walk towards the brazier in the center of the mess hall. They were scraping some of their food into it. I knew it was an offering since I heard kids mutter the names of their parent as they did so. Great. Who the heck did I offer to? When I got there I just said "To my dad. Whoever you are." It didn't smell like burnt food at all. It smelled nice. Lucky gods.

We all sat down again and kids began to eat. They were drinking too. I looked at my empty cup. There wasn't any jugs of juice on the table and I had no idea where to get something to drink. Then a boy tapped my shoulder, "You have to say the drink you want. It'll appear." He said. Okay then. That was weird, but ya know. Gods and swords and stuff. I was beginning to learn to go with it. I thought but only ended up asking for water. The cup instantly filled with ice water. Cool.

"Thanks… uh…" I said to him.

"I'm Connor Stoll." He said. Then he pointed to the kid next to him who looked exactly like him. "This is my brother Travis." Travis waved since his mouth was full then went back to eating. I could tell they were Hermes kids.

"Nice to meet you guys." I said. We all finished our food and then Mr. D stood up.

"Okay. As you brats know, today is Friday. You also know that tonight we play capture the flag. Cabin five currently holds the laurels." The cabin with all the big brutish looking kids laughed and cheered. "Before we all go running off into the woods with pointy sticks though, I guess I should tell you that there's a new camper. Jena Rice." Mr. D said.

Chiron mumbled to him and he rolled his eyes, "Rena Royce, whatever."

All the campers looked at me and I shied away from all the eyes. The table from before burst out laughing at me, "Great day to get here newbie! We're gonna teach you a lesson tonight!" one girl roared. Her siblings laughed.

"Those are the Ares kids. Most of them are mean and ugly." Connor said. I nodded after looking them over. "The big girl who was taunting you is Clarisse." He filled me in.

"Ok. So, what exactly is this game? It's definitely not standard capture the flag from school. That much I know." I asked. Travis and Connor both grinned.

"You'll see. Don't worry. Luke will help you figure it out." They said amused. I raised an eyebrow at them but didn't ask anything else. Everyone stood and left the mess hall. I saw kids putting on armor and gathering weapons. Cabin leaders were strategizing and forming alliances with each other. I found Luke helping Percy into his armor. He looked as nervous as I felt.

"Hey Luke. The Stoll brothers told me to come to you since I don't know what's happening right now." I said.

Luke smiled and explained the rules of the game. Then he told me about our alliance with the Athena cabin. Next, he found me armor and a sword. "Jesus this thing is heavy." I said holding the sword up.

He smirked and picked his up easily. Percy was struggling to hold his, though not as much as me. I guess he got practice in before I woke up. The sun was going down and everyone was approaching the forest. Growls and monster noises came from inside. Wonderful.

 **Okay! I'm going to end it here because I think this chapter is a bit long. At least it looks that way in Word. I didn't want to end it there, but then I thought: Hey, why not? I know what's going to happen. You guys are the ones who suffer from the cliffhanger ;) Just kidding. I'm going to update really quickly. In fact, I'll start writing Chapter 3 as soon as this one is up. Thanks for reading it and please review! It would help a lot! See ya soon!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey! I'm back! I know I left you at a very bad spot, so I'll just go ahead and let you read.**

I saw Chiron before we left and he was not in his wheelchair. No, he was half horse. A centaur. Ok, sure. Why not. I returned my focus to the game. We all entered the forest together, but then the other team split off from our group and headed to the other side of the river. Annabeth lead our team further and further into the forest and the huge trees began to block out the small amount of light left by the sunset. I hefted the sword up and held it steady. It wasn't as heavy any more. I figured I'd just gotten used to carrying it. Luke put me on border patrol with Percy who had this gigantic shield he looked funny carrying. I didn't say so though. He knew. I wasn't given one. They didn't think I'd be able to hold it. Neither did I. We caught up with Annabeth who filled us in on our job and who to stay away from. Mainly Clarisse. She left us behind. Percy was a bit offended but I didn't let it get to me. She had a strategy. Athena kids always did. That's what I learned she was. She had helped lead the flag in after dinner.

We were stationed at the river. We were far apart to make sure we could block as much as possible. I knew I would fail, but I tried to focus as much as I could. I pushed the large helmet up so I could see, and held my sword with both hands ready to use it. The conch blew and I could hear shouts and yells from both sides. An Apollo kid raced by Percy startling him and I saw him dodge through the brush on the other side. We stood a little longer and when something finally happened it was very dark. The sword, though sitting awkward wasn't heavy. Nothing was. I felt strong and antsy. I didn't want to stand so still.

We heard a growl and I saw the gigantic beast staring at me. Percy looked around, he couldn't see it. The beast left and something worse appeared. Ares kids. With Clarisse. Annabeth had mentioned her spear, and I did not feel like being fried. I already came close earlier today, no thank you.

I saw them coming long before they left the bushes and ran over to Percy.

"Percy! Clarisse and 4 of her cabin mates are coming!" I warned.

"What? How do you know?"

Just then they charged out, "Haha! Both punks in one place! Cream them!" She shouted to her siblings. They grinned evilly and stormed across the stream. They attacked as soon as they got within range surrounding us. I moved my sword as best I could to defend. It was my first time using one and I didn't know anything about how to disarm or attack well. It didn't go very well. The first guy attacked Percy instead of me, but the second made up for it. He attacked viciously and I tumbled back trying desperately to keep him at bay. Well, after about 2 minutes of defending, he disarmed me and cornered me against a tree. He laughed and held his sword at my throat, and even though Chiron had said no killing I still didn't like it. So, I quickly ripped off my helmet and swung it at him. It smacked the side of his head and he fell backwards. He didn't get up. I quickly ran over and checked for a pulse to make sure I hadn't killed the guy. I mean after all, he was just an asshole, not evil. When I deemed him alive, I quickly retrieved my sword and ran to help Percy, putting my helmet back on. Clarisse was jabbing at him and I could see it electrocuting his arm slightly. Another Ares guy hit him and so I swung my sword hard and knocked him backwards. I took his shield to help defend and was surprised when I could lift it easily.

"Well look at that, she actually has some muscle. Not enough to help her though." She laughed. The other four kids laughed. The one I'd disarmed a little less though. Clarisse told them to give Percy a haircut and when he tried to stop them she smacked his sword away. Now his arms were useless. I stepped in front of him holding the shield out and the sword above it. I glared at them, and they roared with laughter some more.

"Oh wow, I'm scared now. Like REALLY scared." She said sarcastically.

"The flag is that way." Percy tried to sound strong, but, well… you know.

"Oh we don't care about the flag." One of them said, "We care about the guy who made our cabin look stupid." He sneered.

I looked back at Percy, "What did you do?"

He just smirked lightly and shrugged, "Nothing really, they look stupid enough without my help." I snickered, "Oh yeah, I heard about that at dinner."

That really enraged them. Two came at us and tried to get around me to Percy. I could only hold off one of them and the other advanced after getting up. Why was he down? I accidentally tripped him. Seriously, I didn't mean to.

The first of the two, the one fighting me, tried to bash my shield and sword away, but somehow I held on firmly. Again, why couldn't this happen in gym? I pushed him over with my shield and spun just in time to see Clarisse jab Percy with her spear. His hair stood on end and I swear I saw his clothes spark.

"Percy!" I shouted and ran after him. The other one tried to stop me but I just pushed through him. Clarisse pulled her spear back and let the last one of her siblings slash at his arm.

"No maiming." Percy said.

"Oops, guess I lost my dessert privileges." The guy said. He pushed Percy into the creek. They're laughing was interrupted when I kicked him in. He landed with a yelp and a splash, he was knocked out like the first guy.

"Oops." I said mocking him before pulling him onto the shore so he wouldn't drown. Now it was just two on two. Clarisse and the guy who blocked me VS Percy and I. Though, Percy wasn't doing well. He sat there soaked, fried, and bleeding. Our odds were not good. This was going to end badly. I knew I couldn't defend us both against two children of Ares, who is after all the god of war. Then something happened. The guy I knocked over had woken up and was joining his team. The only one who didn't get up was the one I smacked with my helmet. It was now four on two. They backed us both further into the creek following us into the water. Percy walked up next to me looking stronger than ever. His cut was gone and his hair was obeying basic physics again. He smirked and then proceeded to take them all on his own. He smashed a few faces in and I knocked a few heads. We were a good team now that we were both healthy and energized. Those Ares kids didn't stand a chance anymore. Percy attacked Clarisse snapping her spear between his shield and sword.

She didn't react well, "Ah! You idiot! You corpse-breath worm!" That was the beginning of her rant but he ended it with a hit between her eyes making her stumble out of the creek.

We heard the cheers and whoops of our team soon after. Luke was running out of enemy territory hefting the red flag high. A few Hermes guys followed him as well as some Apollo fighting off the Hephaestus cabin. The Ares guys stood up cursing.

"A trick. It was a trick!" Clarisse exclaimed. Her cabin tried to get to Luke but he was too close. They ran across the river and were met with an explosion of cheers from the blue team. Then the Ares banner turned silver and now had the symbol of Hermes, a huge caduceus. Our whole team picked Luke up and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron came out a little while later and blew his conch to end the game. Percy and I grinned at each other. We won! We actually won! Best first day at camp ever. Then Annabeth's voice startled us.

"Nice job heroes. Where the heck did you learn to fight like that?" She said. We looked but couldn't see her. I saw her shadow though. In the middle of the night, yes.

"Woah! How're you doing that?" I asked astonished in her general direction. The air wavered and she appeared in the middle of taking off her baseball cap. Percy was angry. He had a reason though.

"You set me up. You put me here because you knew Clarisse would come after me, while you sent Luke around the flank. You had it all figured it out." He accused her.

She shrugged, "I told you. Athena always, always has a plan."

"A plan to get me pulverized."

"Hey, I put Rena here to help you. You weren't all by yourself. I came as fast as I could and I was going to jump in, but you didn't need help." Then she noticed his arm, "How'd you do that?"

"Sword cut. What do you think?"

"No. It was a sword cut. Look at it." He looked down to see his almost fully healed arm.

"Oh yeah huh. Forgot to mention that earlier." I added earlier putting my hands on my hips and shrugging.

He looked at me, "You saw?"

"Yeah, it fixed itself when you got up out of the river and went after the Ares kids."

"I-I don't get it…" He said looking at it again, it had completely disappeared by now. Annabeth furrowed her brow in thought.

"Percy, step out of the water."

"What-"

"Just do it." She demanded. I knew what she was getting at and watched as he collapsed once he left the water. I stepped forward catching him and pulled him to his feet, before he could fall on his face.

"Oh, Styx. This is not good. I didn't want… I assumed it would be Zeus…"

I didn't know why she was freaking out, or what Zeus had to do with anything and I was about to ask when we all heard a growl. Everyone instantly fell silent, and I could see a dark, gigantic figure through the trees. It was the same thing as before.

"It's back." I said pointing at it. They looked where I was pointing, squinting to try and see what I could through the darkness. Chiron called for his bow in Greek and the campers all raised their weapons watching the huge hound that was right above us on the rocks. It was black and had red eyes that glowed bright in the darkness. His fangs were like daggers and he was not happy. It was watching Percy.

"Percy, run." Annabeth yelled through the silence. Too late. It attacked, tearing Percy's armor to shreds.

The archers were about to release their arrows when I reacted instinctively. I roared in anger at him hurting my only new friend and the air cooled. The light from the stars and moon appeared to have been snuffed out by the darkness. It closed in and suddenly everything was pitch black. The black was so thick and dark. Like nothing you'd ever encounter no matter how hard you tried. Like from the very core of a black hole. Not even that was dark enough. I saw the hound in front of me and let my hate for the creature radiate through the black. It whimpered and cowered in fear. Its tail was between its legs and his ears laid flat against his head. I approached the beast and it laid down, bowing its head low to me in submission.

 _I'm sorry mistress. Forgive me._ I heard it say. I just nodded astounded that I could hear it talk. The light from the moon and stars returned and I saw everyone looking at them scared, trying to get as much light back as they could. Once they recovered they saw me standing in front of the beast they just looked astonished. The archers had lowered their bows and the others let their swords hang freely by their sides. Percy was behind me and walked up looking at the hound. Chiron sauntered forward looking between me and the beast.

"Rena… how…" He couldn't even finish.

"I… don't know. Honestly… it just happened. I swear I didn't mean to." I said stepping away from it. Its intentions quickly turned vicious again now that it saw I wasn't going to do anything and it lunged at Percy again. The archers from the Apollo cabin reacted quickly, killing it. That didn't stop them from staring though. Annabeth broke the silence luckily, focusing back on the beast.

"Di immortales!" she cursed, "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't… they're not supposed to…"

"Someone summoned it." Chiron exclaimed, "Someone inside the camp." Luke joined us and Clarisse started yelling how the person who summoned it was Percy.

"Yeah right, if it was him, why would it attack him?" I said defending him.

"You're right. It was you wasn't it newbie? We all saw what you did."

"Um, it was pitch black. None of us saw anything." Luke said.

"Well she's the one who made it pitch black! And when it left, she was standing in front of it like she commanded it! It was her! It was Rena!" She screeched.

"Be quiet, child." Chiron told her.

We all saw how the hellhound's body melted away into shadow absorbing into the ground.

"You're wounded." Annabeth said to Percy, "Quick, get in the water."

"I'm okay."

"No you're not," she insisted, "Chiron, watch this."

Percy just tiredly obeyed and stepped into the creek. I was glad that the attention was now on Percy, who looked better already. His cuts were healing and a green light appeared over his head. Inside it was a trident. The symbol of Poseidon. The campers all gasped. I didn't understand.

"What's wrong? Isn't it good that he's been claimed?" I asked Annabeth quietly.

She shook her head and whispered, "Poseidon is one of the big three. Like Zeus and Hades. They all swore never to have children because they were too powerful. This means that Poseidon broke the oath."

"Ohhhh. Not good." I said. She nodded in agreement.

"Look, I-I don't know why. I'm sorry." He said not noticing the symbol.

"Um… Percy…" Annabeth pointed and he looked up quickly. It disappeared right after. "Your father… this is really not good." She said grimly.

"It is determined," Chiron announced. Everyone was kneeling. Even the Ares kids. I knew I should too and followed soon after.

"My father?" he asked bewildered.

"Poseidon. Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God." Chiron said.

Percy didn't look happy about it, just astonished. We all stood again and walked out of the forest. I was walking next to Luke, Percy, Annabeth, and Chiron. Percy was silent and we all glanced at him worriedly from time to time. We dropped our weapons and armor off at the weapons shed and all returned to our cabins. Annabeth and Chiron split off from us and we all entered the Hermes cabin. I knew that it would be Percy's last night here. Tomorrow he would go to the Poseidon cabin… probably. Most likely. I mean I didn't actually know, it's not like I can read the future. Anyways…  
The other people in the Hermes cabin filed in setting down their personal weapons and getting ready for sleeping. Percy was laying down with his eyes wide open, thinking. Even long into the night he was still awake. I fell asleep leaning against the wall using my backpack as a back pillow. I remembered the ordeal with the hellhound. Tomorrow would be rough.

 **Done! I really liked writing that chapter, it was exciting. Not as long as the last two though. I hope you guys enjoyed it! Don't forget to review and leave your feedback so I can improve it. Bye!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for making it to here! Im glad you're at least somewhat interested in my story… well that or you're only here to see how much worse it can get. I can believe that… anyways! Yeah.**

The next morning Chiron visited to come get Percy and take him to his new cabin. I wanted to tag along, but the Hermes cabin had the rock wall reserved this morning, and there was no way I was going to miss that. I told Percy I'd come by later when I had some free time then followed the rest of my cabin out the door to the huge death trap.

When we got close, I saw the wall already roaring to life; spewing the first of the lava out of the top whilst beginning to crash around. Though I should've been terrified, I was only excited. I waited until a few other people had gone so I could see how well they did, before I followed and began my ascent. The first few feet were easy, but then the wall gave out a violent shake and I had to hold on so hard my knuckles turned white, until it calmed down enough that I could continue. Looking down to find your foot holds was even more dangerous since lava could creep up on you. I found that out when it took off the last inch of my hair before I swung out of the way. By the time I made it to the top my clothes were slightly on fire and covered in dirt, with pebbles down my collar. After patting down the flames, I looked at the others and smiled. Some of them, really only three, smiled back. The others were focusing on their own climbs, or still pissy about last night even though no one would say it.

Next we had sword practice. Oh gods, that was a disaster. I was paired with Travis and he was much better at this than me. None of the swords I tried felt good in my hands and were all too bulky and awkward to swing correctly. I was able to improve a little though. The rest of the morning was spent on archery, were I learned I was actually decent. With some more practice, Luke said I would be pretty good. We went to lunch with the rest of the camp where I received my camp shirt. I put it on under my black hoodie, which was much easier to look at than the bright orange Camp Half-Blood shirt.

I saw Percy sitting by himself at the Poseidon table and he didn't look very happy about it. I guess it would get rather lonely being on your own all the time. I tried talking with him a little on the way out of the pavilion, and he ended up coming down to the canoe lake with us. He didn't get in one with us though. He just sat on the dock and shouted to us every now and then.

Even though the situation was weird with the whole demigod thing, I liked camp. The crafts were fun and so was forging, though I couldn't make anything in either of those that looked like something at all. I could draw well though. Later in the day I got my first Greek lesson from Annabeth. It was much easier than learning Spanish at my old school. During a break from activities, I tried to track down Chiron and see how well the conversation with the people at the orphanage had gone. I found him supervising a volleyball game between the Aphrodite kids and some satyrs.

"Chiron, have you had a chance to contact the orphanage yet?" I asked politely.

"Oh yes. Apparently you aren't the first demigod to have wandered into the orphanage. Mr. Rasmussen had suspected you from the start and was actually going to bring you here once he found the best way." He said smiling. Well. That was a shock. I thanked him for the information and then proceeded to wander about camp.

Sitting down on the biggest hill, I looked out over the camp. It was by far the most exciting place I'd ever been in my 12 years of life. Only my 2nd day here and I already had more friends than I had before. Percy, Luke, Connor, Travis, Annabeth, and even Grover when I talked to him, were all being rather nice. I suppose it's because they understood how confused and different I was. Though, I also had quite a bit more people who probably thought I was evil or something, now too. Oh well. Guess that's just how it is.

I got up from my spot and made my way down towards the cabin to go retrieve a book from my few possessions. I'd read it a few billion times, but I liked the story. Unfortunately I didn't get there without running into a few pigs.

"You got a lot of nerve walking around here after what you did at the games punk." A voice growled from behind me.

I sighed and turned around, facing Clarisse and her siblings. It was a group only a few short of being the entire cabin. "You're just mad because you lost. And got beaten up. And humiliated in front of everyone. And were almost attacked by a hellhound." I said listing off the unfortunate things that had happened to them.

"You're damn right. And what did all those things have in common?" She sneered.

I put a hand on my chin giving it serious thought, "Let me think…," I suddenly had an aha! Moment and grinned at her, "You showed your ugly face at each and every one!" I said triumphant. They growled and took a few steps towards me but I wasn't finished. Clapping my hands together a few times I nodded sarcastically. "That was quite a difficult question, I mean there were so many other good answers. For instance, you guys charge like a bull. All power and no thought. Next time we're in that situation remind me to bring a red cloth so we can at least do it the right way." I said mockingly grinning up at her. I understood that I was digging my own grave, but at least I would die leaving them with their egos deflated.

She swung at me and I dodged, "Then of course there's the way you run, like a lumbering idiot. It's quite funny, have you considered joining a circus?" I laughed avoiding a few more kicks and punches. The whole group surrounded me, and behind them was the circle formed by the rest of the campers who were watching. The Ares cabin advanced on me and I ducked down before crawling between two legs to freedom amongst the rest of the campers. They whirled around trying to grab me, pushing the others out of the way. I just ran to the forest behind the cabins. They followed for a while but the farther in I got, the less enthusiastic they seemed. Eventually I completely lost them, with one final call from Clarisse.

"Don't think you've won! You have to leave sometime. If you're not eaten first." She growled out at me.

Running until the laughter faded, I bent over and heaved. Then I fell to the ground, panting ridiculously. I was so bad at running.

When my lungs stopped burning, I stood up and looked around. I was pretty deep in the forest and it was fairly dark. All around me I could hear the distant calls of monsters. One repeating noise from my left was getting closer each passing minute, until it was just beyond the trees. Another loud hiss joined the other making me jump. Great. I quickly patted myself down for something I could use to defend myself, but no luck. I picked up a decent sized rock and held it by my head ready to throw. The bushes rustled and leaves were crushed underneath something. Not footsteps, too continuous for that. It was explained though when a really horrific head popped out. It was hissing and baring its sharp fangs at me, liquid dripping off them. I could only assume it was poison. A gigantic poisonous snake, and I had a rock. As if that wasn't enough, when the creature's tail made its way into view, I saw ANOTHER snake head. Perfect. A two headed gigantic poisonous snake. This could not get any better. It -they?- made a move to circle me, so I chucked my rock for all my worth. Please have taught me something, dodgeball.

To my surprise, it hit the first head right on the nose. My victory was short lived though, as it did absolutely nothing except piss it -them?- off. The monster advanced, hissing viciously and spitting venom at me until I was with my back pressed against a boulder. I had a dumb plan, but might as well.

Slowly I leaned down and grabbed another rock, standing back up and chucking it at the snake thing. It lashed out and struck at me, but I was faster. I stepped back, and the snake's shrill sound was heard as well as the crunch of its face. I was safe in my shadowy confines and watched grinning madly. I had figured it out. This ability was just like walking through a powerful waterfall. It pressed against you, but if you kept going, you made it through. So far I could only use it in death emergencies, but that was fine with me. I'd just have to practice.

The creature backed off realizing it could do nothing, and turned around so that the second head was at the front. The other laid limply behind it, and I wondered if it was dead. I really hoped so. All I needed was the other one to die also. That would be nice. But it was a task easier said than done. I had a feeling it would take some extra motivation to do something like that again, so I had to come up with a new plan. One that didn't involve using my powers. I could feel my energy quickly leaving my body from just being here so long already. Think Rena think. Then it came to me. A plan that would most likely end in pain, but the only one I had.

Darting out of the boulder I let my battle reflexes kick in as I rolled to the side. The quick mouth came down behind me not even a half-second later. Getting up, I sprinted toward the other end and grabbed it. So far so good. Until it began to thrash around, lifting me into the air and swinging around. Bull riding had nothing on this. When it failed to dislodge me, it slammed the unconscious head into the ground, almost crushing me. I used this to my advantage and planted my feet, holding it right below my chest. The beast lunged, and I yanked it up over my face. The impact threw me back into a tree, but it had worked. I blinked, dazed at the monsters own teeth lodged in its other throat. Then it fell. Army crawling my way over I saw the snake disintegrating, and when it was done, nothing was left but a thick snake skin about three and a half feet long, and a vile of venom. I picked up the vile and slipped it into my pocket, refocusing my attention on the skin. Now that I wasn't fighting for my life, I could look closer at it. The many scales were speckled white like a splatter painting, and had a golden spine run up the middle. It was actually really beautiful. Grabbing it, I stood shakily and began to make my way out of the forest. Hopefully I would make it there uneventfully.

It was sundown when I emerged at the entrance to the dining pavilion where the rest of the camp was seated, enjoying their dinner. One by one the tables began to hush, and look at the bruised and battered new girl clutching a two headed snake skin. Chiron cantered up to me with Annabeth, Luke, and Percy.

"What happened? Where'd you go?" Percy asked.

"She was chased into the forest by the Ares cabin, but I don't know after that." Annabeth stated. I nodded tiredly and grabbed a goblet of water before speaking.

"Yeah. They chased me into the forest, and then this big two headed snake comes out and starts spitting venom at me. I had to kill it by making one head bash against a rock, and the other bite itself." I said before draining the cup and yawning. Chiron looked at the skin I was holding up to him. Annabeth took it and began examining it.

"This is the skin of an amphisbaena. They aren't supposed to be in the forest are they? Especially not on regular days. They're far too dangerous." She said to Chiron handing him my prize. He nodded grimly.

"You're correct Annabeth. But neither was the hellhound yesterday. Something is not right." He was silent in thought for a while before turning back to me and smiling, "This is yours my dear. You killed it, so you get the trophy. Legend says if you wrap this around a walking stick, it will discourage any attacks from animals that strike instead of bite. Quite a fine prize. Well done." He handed it back to me and told me to go join the other Hermes kids.

Luke smirked at me, "Yeah, those are quite a tough enemy. Are you sure you're okay?"

I nodded, "Yes. It's only a few bruises."

"Okay. Go on then." He said smiling. As I walked past him he laid a hand on my shoulder and said quietly, "I would hide that in your jacket during dinner. Not everyone will be so pleased at your accomplishment." I saw him glance quickly at Clarisse and her siblings. Nodding I hid it under my hoodie and then returned to my table.

There were a bunch of questions asked, but none to me directly. All of them were between others in hushed tones. My friends were more polite about it though, the brothers were telling jokes and stories of their various pranking expeditions and I found myself laughing genuinely for the first time in a while.

After the campfire, which was pretty awesome (the Apollo kids are really good at music), I picked up a moderately long stick and tied the skin securely around it. Then I returned to my corner in the Hermes cabin, and curled up on my backpack with the stick tucked safely in the space between my backpack and the corner where the walls met.

 **Done! Did you like it? I hope so. It was fun to write. So far I've only been doing one or two days per chapter, but that should pick up once the story progresses a bit more. Things are kinda slow right now. Plus, I'm also really tired as it is approximately 3:20 in the morning as I'm writing this, and I have to be up in two hours for school so go me! I'm great at this whole life thing aren't I? So yeah! That's enough rambling, I will see you all next chapter.**


End file.
